(JustPatriots.com)- After federal prosecutors in New York filed criminal charges, Bahamian authorities arrested former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried last Monday, just one day before he was scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee about the collapse of FTX.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested Bankman-Fried at the request of the US Attorney’s Office for the South District of New York, thereby sparing the Democrats the embarrassment of having one of their biggest donors testifying before Congress.
According to the indictment, US prosecutors have accused Bankman-Fried of engaging in a scheme to defraud FTX customers by misappropriating their deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments on behalf of his hedge fund Alameda Research LLC.
Bankman-Fried also defrauded Alameda lenders by providing false and misleading information about the hedge fund’s condition while attempting to disguise the money he earned from committing wire fraud, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecutors also allege that Bankman-Fried then used the stolen money to make “tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions.”
US Attorney Damian Williams of the SDNY described the FTX collapse as one of the “biggest financial frauds in American history” and said the investigation is “ongoing” and “moving quickly.”
Bankman-Fried appeared before a Bahamian judge Tuesday where he told the court that he would fight extradition to the United States.
Bahamian prosecutors asked that Bankman-Fried be denied bail if he fights extradition.
The judge denied bail, saying Bankman-Fried was “too great” a flight risk. He ordered the disgraced former CEO to be remanded to a Bahamian correctional facility until his next court hearing on February 8.
This Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that Bankman-Fried agreed to be extradited to the US and could arrive as soon as Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried also faces separate charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SED) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The SEC complaint accuses Bankman-Fried of defrauding investors while the CFTC has accused Bankman-Fried, Alameda, and FTX of fraud involving digital commodity assets.
